January 4, 2008

Beaded Bracelet Pattern

Metallic Elastic cord. Find this in the jewelry aisle at Michael’s or other craft stores.

#6 beads. Also available widely at craft stores.

Optional: A needle and embroidery thread, and a familiarity with my beading tutorial (or any other method of adding beads to a “live” stitch on the needles, as opposed to pre-stringing beads.)

Cast on 5 stitches. The elastic can be a little tricky to knit with. Aim to keep it taut without stretching it. Knit one row. *WITHOUT TURNING, slide the stitches to the other tip of your dpn. Pull the elastic a little more, so that it stretches a little bit, and knit the first stitch. Continue knitting the rest of the stitches without stretching the elastic.* Repeat from * to * until the bracelet is the appropriate length to reach around your wrist without stretching. When it is long enough, cut your elastic with a few extra inches. Sew the tail through the stitches on the needle, and then through the cast-on edge. Tie the tail and the beginning elastic together to knot them, and then weave each end through the tube of the stitches to about the halfway point. Pull the tails out of the same hole on the other side of the bracelet, pull the elastic to stretch it a little, and tie a knot so that the knot will “disappear” into the bracelet. Cut the tails and stretch the bracelet to coax the knot into the tube of stitches (called “i-cord”).

To add beads to the knitting, after knitting the second row, start adding beads to whichever stitches are pleasing to you. My favorite pattern with the 5-stitch bracelet is to add beads like so:

Row 1: Add bead to stitch 1.

Row2: Add bead to stitch 2.

Continue through row 5.

Row 6: Do not add a bead.

Row 7-12: Repeat.

This allows for a bead to be placed every sixth stitch, and makes a pretty spiral pattern.

Be creative with bead placement, mixing colors, and even the number of stitches. Making i-cord works great with 3-6 stitches, so experiment to see what you like!

This pattern is provided free for personal use. You may print a copy for personal use, but please do not redistribute it without permission from Kelly Checketts. Items made from this pattern may not be sold for profit. Stores may not distribute this pattern for profit, or without giving credit to Kelly Checketts or knitonehugtoo.wordpress.com.